Columnist Dean Juipe: Tua's making quick work of opponents

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4084.

Mike Tyson's sympathizers say the reason the former heavyweight champion flew into a rage following his 38-second victory over Lou Savarese two weeks ago in Scotland was simply the result of his disappointment at the brevity of the scuffle.

It's an understandable argument.

But Tyson isn't the only heavyweight blessed or burdened with quick knockouts and overmatched competition. David Tua, who fights Robert Daniels July 21 at the Regent Las Vegas, needed only 51 seconds to tame his previous opponent, Obed Sullivan, and has had only one of his five most recent fights go beyond the second round.

Tua is knocking out rivals before the customers can settle into their seats. Sullivan didn't survive a minute June 3 at the MGM Grand Garden, and his immediate predecessors -- Shane Sutcliffe, Gary Bell and Eric Curry -- fared little better. Bell and Curry failed to survive the opening round and Sutcliffe didn't see the end of the second.

Does Tua feel slighted, as Tyson apparently did?

"Not really," he said Wednesday at a press conference promoting his fight with Daniels. "If the fight's over, it's mission accomplished as far as I'm concerned.

"A quick knockout is a payoff for all the training and hard work that goes into a fight.

"I look at things from a different perspective (than Tyson). If I've won, it's all good."

Tua, 36-1 with 31 knockouts, is expected to add to his resume at Daniels' expense in a fight to be televised by the Showtime cable network. The challenger is a former cruiserweight world champion who has been fighting as a heavyweight since 1992 yet does not have a win over a significant big man.

And Tua, at 253 pounds, is a big man with a big punch.

"He should be a good competitor," Tua said of Daniels, who is 39-4-1 with 32 KOs. "He's got a good punch, but he let (Lawrence) Clay-Bey get away from him."

Clay-Bey, the best known of Daniels' recent opponents, rallied for a decision win over Daniels in January.

The sports book at the Regent has not yet posted a line on its upcoming fight, although Tua figures to be a huge favorite as he fights one last time before a likely world-title fight in November. Ranked as the No. 1 contender by the IBF, Tua has a mandatory date coming with champion Lennox Lewis -- unless Lewis vacates the title, as he said he might.

"If Lewis doesn't become a reality for me, I'll fight whoever they present," Tua said. "I try not to think too much about what Lewis is doing. I know it makes for good reading and creates a lot of excitement, but it's really out of my hands.

"There are rules and regulations. If he chooses to go his own way, I'll fight somebody else for the championship and I won't be disappointed."

Tua, a native of Samoa, has been living just outside Las Vegas (at Prince Ranch, near Mount Charleston) for the past two months and will remain there at least for the short term. His manager, Kevin Barry, said Tua "is extremely motivated and is hitting harder than I've seen him in his whole career."

Tua certainly seems content with the work he has been getting and the course he is on, and he has written a couple poems during his more reflective moments.

"I'm very fortunate," he said, and that outlook is reflected in his engaging personality. "I can't deny the opportunity America is giving me. I look back when I was a little boy running naked in the islands and compare that to where I am now, fighting in the United States and getting ready for a world title.

"It hits a soft spot."

Tua hit a soft spot on Sullivan's head when he disposed of his most recent opponent last month at the MGM. While some ringside observers speculated that a "phantom punch" sent Sullivan sprawling, Tua was able to recount the scenario and give a blow-by-blow account of the abbreviated bout.

"My (right hand) middle knuckle was sore from it," he said after running through the lefts and rights that caused Sullivan to capitulate. "No way was it a phantom punch. If anyone had any doubts they should see the film and see his knees buckle."

Regardless of the lack of resistance Sullivan offered, and regardless of how long Daniels can last with him, Tua has to be given credit for fighting at a time when he could be excused for protecting his No. 1 ranking. It is, after all, a risk any time a fighter steps into the ring.

"I could sit around and wait for my title shot in November," he said. "But this fight brings me a step closer to my goal. I'm focused. I'm working on a destiny that must be fulfilled."

Lance "Mount" Whitaker and Dave Dixon, both from Los Angeles, had to be restrained after each took a turn goading the other at the podium. Whitaker initiated the exchange by referring to a sparring session between the two that was held last month.

"There's a rumor going around that you knocked me down," Whitaker said in an admission of sorts. "Well I've got three words for you, brother: You're dead meat."

Dixon took offense at the threat and promised a more poignant knockdown when he fights Whitaker with money and pride at stake. It was good theater and the men later calmed for posed photographs, although each eyed the other suspiciously.

Dixon is 21-3-2 and Whitaker 20-1. They're scheduled for 10 rounds.

Also on the card is former WBC bantamweight champion Wayne McCullough of Las Vegas, although he said his appearance is not yet a certainty.

"We're working on signing a new three-fight contract," he said. "If the contract gets signed, I'll fight on the (July 21) card."

But he was disturbed at the lack of competent sparring he has been able to find in recent weeks. Of late, female pro Laura Serrano has sparred with him, although McCullough said "She can crack me, but I can't really crack her."

If McCullough fights on the card, he's hoping for a journeyman-level opponent.

"I'm just looking to get back in the ring and get a little work," he said. "Then I'll fight again in August and September and be ready to go after another world title."

A bout with IBF featherweight champ Paul Ingle is a possibility for later this year, McCullough said.

"But first I need some sparring," he said. "There just haven't been any small guys around the gym. I may need to fly someone in."

* QUICK HITS: Former WBA heavyweight champ Greg Page of Las Vegas was beaten last Thursday in New York by Robert Davis. Page, 57-16-1, was counted out in the eighth round of his scheduled 10-round fight with Davis, who is now 20-0. ... As had been rumored, a pair of Las Vegas heavyweights will square off Aug. 5 in Philadelphia when Cliff Couser and Jorge Luis Gonzalez lock horns. The nationally televised bout was solidified over the weekend and will pit Couser, 19-5-2 with eight knockouts, and Gonzalez, 31-5 with 27 KOs, in a fight that local matchmakers overlooked. ... The Venetian has a kick boxing card scheduled for Saturday and is considering a July 29 boxing card that would be televised to Southern California.

Evander Holyfield hopes to have the WBA heavyweight championship in tow when he attends the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, this fall. "I'm going down there in September," he said while in Las Vegas last week to promote his Aug. 12 title fight with John Ruiz at Paris Las Vegas. "I want to be where the action is, and it's going to be in Australia." In the interim, he'll train in Houston for a fight in which he's a minus 400 betting favorite. As for Ruiz, a plus 300 underdog, he said he's going back into training this week in Massachusetts after initially getting ready to fight Holyfield June 10. That date was set aside, however, when Holyfield suffered an injured left rib cage. "Things like that can happen," Ruiz said. "It's a little frustrating, but I've got to believe Evander really was hurt. If I didn't believe him, it would only drive me crazy. So I'll go back in the gym and miss the whole summer, but it'll give me a chance to work even harder than I was. I'll be at m! y best and, by then, hopefully he will too."

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